Faces, War and Rescue
by LaurenceCartwright
Summary: Raxacoricofallapatorius is in trouble. A warrior has escaped from the planet Clom, whilst war rages with the Sycorax over a crashed ship, the contents of which could prove deadly to the population. What the planet needs is an unlikely hero, who may not have necessarily come from Raxacoricofallapatorius itself, but can deliver peace and prosperity when needed.
1. Trouble on Raxacoricofallapatorius

Fotch Veen Ban Koloreen was not comfortable. The Clombite tournament was fast approaching, and the Clombite who had escaped last year had not been found, and if he wasn't, the issue could have huge implications on this year's tournament. This could bring an end to the mass arrival of universal creatures arriving on the planet, to witness one of the stranger events that takes place on a planet, which was particularly distinct for a planet with such a miniscule population. As the Supreme President of the Raxan-Coricon-Fallan-Patorian Empire, which Clom was a part of, she felt that she already had the burden of this on her, let alone what had just happened on the East Coast of the Sovereign Continent of Falla. A delivery ship full of vinegar – which would prove deadly to all planetary inhabitants – had crashed, with the six-strong Sycorax crew on board. They were trapped, but nobody could help them, for fear that they would be dissolved, which in the wrong circumstances could provide lethal to the crew as well as themselves. And what if the vinegar was to get into the water supply? That would be apocalyptic.

The office door knocked. "Come in," shouted Koloreen.

A messenger walked in. "The Clombite has been located", he said, with some delight.

Koloreen's face lit up. "That's fantastic news!" she announced. "Where has he been found?"

"Earth," came the reply.

"Send out a search party. He must be starving by now. Perhaps even dead. He shouldn't be hard to find."

The servant picked up his phone, and started arranging instructions. "_Brilliant_," Koloreen thought to herself. "_One less thing to worry about._"


	2. The Absorption

Jane and Eric had been together for over a year. Things were looking pretty good for them. They were at Jane's mother's house, where they had spent the night visiting, and were currently at the breakfast table, having finished breakfast.

"I have to go to the toilet," said Jane's mother, Julia. "Would you excuse me?"

"Certainly," replied Jane. She had inherited her mother's straight brown hair, with a hint of auburn. She was a fairly athletic figure, unlike Eric, who had a reasonable build when he first met Jane, but had certainly lost weight since.

"I have a surprise for you," taunted Eric.

"Oh, go on then," replied Jane. Surprises weren't very common from Eric, so she was glad to hear this.

"Here goes," said Eric. And then the strangest thing happened. He started to turn green. Even his clothes were starting to disappear, and almost dissolve into his skin, which was turning a bizarre and disgusting texture, as though something could sink straight through it. But he was still skinny as he had been. He grabbed Jane's hand. "Here's your surprise," he said. "I am a Clombite. And my real name is Abintu".

Jane wanted to scream, but she couldn't. Her hand started to disappear. "This is a common lifestyle in Clom," laughed Abintu. "Enjoy."

Jane could see her arm disappearing right before her eyes. She couldn't feel it any more. Slowly, Abintu's face got higher, but closer, as she sank towards his hand, with more and more of herself disappearing. Suddenly, she lost all feeling and sight, as though she were dead. But she knew she existed. She just couldn't _do_ anything.

Julia returned from the bathroom. She took one look at Abintu and screamed. He had definitely filled out from how he looked when Jane had seen him. "Where are Jane and Eric?" she asked him, still in shock.

"I am Eric," said the monster, "Or rather, my name is Abintu. Watch." A green lump started to appear on his chest.

Jane could now see again. She could feel her face, but nothing else. She saw her mother, whose mouth was open in shock, before fainting.

"Mum!" Jane tried to shout, but she could only put her mouth into it, rather than using her lungs, because they did not exist anymore. "Where am I?" she asked Abintu.

"Let me show you," came the reply. He moved towards the hallway mirror, allowing Jane to see what her mother had just seen. Abintu's new, horrible face became visible again, but another face stared back at her – her own. It was green, and embedded in the horrible green skin that she had recently witnessed.

"What have you done to me?" she asked.

"I have absorbed you," replied Abintu, "I need to do this every now and again for food. It's how we Clombites live."

"I thought you loved me."

"Nah," came the honest reply. Abintu turned back into Eric, causing Jane to return to the non-existent state that she had felt herself in before becoming a face. She felt herself going back later on, at which point she was back home, where she had recently moved in with Eric. Now, there seemed to be a much more permanent change, but not within her own will. She was stuck where she was. But not forever, it seemed. She looked down, and could see the outline of a face on Abintu's inside right upper leg. This really scared her – was this how she was going to end up? And how much longer did she have?

That night, Abintu stayed as himself, but slept in the bed. Jane realised that she had no concept of sleep any more, although there was no chance she was going to be able to sleep anyway. The curtain wasn't closed, and Jane was able to see outside. An unusual light appeared in the sky, appearing to be crashing to Earth, but in a very controlled manner. Maybe it was going to take them away to Clom? She hid herself in Abintu's slimy skin, fearing for what was coming next.


	3. A Cry for Help

The UNIT HQ was an incredibly high-tech facility. Computers whirled away doing important looking tasks, whilst gadgets littered the area, all of which had an intergalactic purpose of some sort. It was an unlikely place for Julia, who was coming towards the end of a steady career as a businesswoman in the fashion industry. But this wasn't going to help her daughter, so she called on the experts in this particular field. They would be able to help her. And maybe, just maybe, they could help her get her daughter back. There was always hope, especially when it comes to green monsters from outer space. Nobody knows much about green monsters from outer space, so anything could happen. So she might as well think positive.

Talks went on about what happened, with Julia still in a state of shock. UNIT's members are particularly well trained in dealing with this, thankfully, meaning that they could share Julia's positive thinking, in the hope that they could come to a solution, firstly involving capturing the creature. This would particularly help to prevent anything worse happening, such as another victim being caught. The monster needed to be reined in and trapped. And this organisation was just the team for the job.


	4. The Clom Tournament

Abintu woke up peacefully, bright and early in the morning, with Jane still awake, as she had been all night, and she would be for the rest of her life.

"I'm sorry I had to do this to you," apologised Abintu, "But it's honestly just a life cycle."

June suddenly saw something in the monster that she hadn't seen before – a genuine conscience. "H-how long have I got left?" she started. That was all she currently cared about.

"As long as I live. And I don't age, so that could be a very long time. Longer than you would have lived normally."

"But, I don't understand. What about this outline on your leg?"

"That was a fellow Clombite," came the reply. Abintu started to choke a little. "Her name was Kanitix. We were together, until about two years ago, or three years on this planet."

"And you took her as well?"

"On Clom, we decide who absorbs who with a tournament. It's an amazing spectacle, with many people around the universe coming to see it. It lasts a quarter of our year, taking place at the Clom Arena. Such an amazing building, that is. It can seat half a million spectators, around the ring in the centre. Here, every Clombite is drawn against another, going one at a time to fight. Each Clombite must take out every face on their opponent with a pole, before selecting a place on their opponent's body, and hitting them there. When one Clombite has done this, they are the winner, and will absorb their opponent, putting their face into that location on their own body."

"That's barbaric."

"It's our way of life. It's the fairest way of deciding who lives. All first-years are put into their own draw, and they just have to get one hit, so it's usually over in seconds. I was drawn against Kanitix, just by chance, meaning that we would have to fight. She always admired my fighting ability, and knew I'd be able to protect her. She asked me to put her somewhere safe, hence the hard-to-reach location of her face. The following year, I was drawn against a long-lasting survivor, who had eight faces on her. I managed to take out two, but then she got Kanitix. I was so distraught that she had gone, I lost concentration, before she got me with a striking blow to the stomach, where I would be easy prey for the next opponent. But the device I was given to prevent me from absorbing her was hacked – it was a teleport. Clom technology is nowhere near this level, it was a Raxan-Coricon-Fallan-Patorian device, and it sent me to the Earth, where I met you."

For the first time, Jane actually started to feel sorry for the monster that had taken her. But this was cut short by the arrival of a military vehicle outside the house, and soldiers in red berets bursting inside, pointing guns at Abintu and yelling "Get in the truck!" Abintu obligingly walked into the truck, where doors were slammed in his and Jane's faces, and the truck drove off.


	5. The Search for Weaknesses

At the UNIT HQ, the combination-based creature was placed inside a cell, where tests were run on them. Scientists in white coats covered the room neighbouring the cell, with many kinds of computer technology and scientific equipment. Julia walked up to the cell. Jane knew that this difficult conversation was going to happen at some point.

"I-I can't believe this has happened to you," wailed Julia. She looked almost as though she was going to faint again, but she managed to pull through this time.

"Everything's going to be fine, mother," replied Jane.

"But you have no body. How can you live without being attached to that thing?"

"They will find a way. Look at all this fancy equipment, and they all know what to do with it. They can get me out."

"But our technology can only go so far. How do you expect them to create an entire body for you?"

Jane thought hard about this. Her mum had a point. If the team in front of her was finding weak points for the creature she was attached to, how was she going to survive?

Julia walked up to the lead scientist for the project. "How is it working out, Doctor Johnson?" she asked him.

"It's a difficult situation," he replied, "It's going to be incredibly tricky to separate your daughter from the creature she's attached to."

"Don't worry," Julia replied. She raised her hand to the corner of her forehead, smiling for the first time since Jane had been absorbed. "I'm sure there will be a way," she said, with some confidence. She scratched her forehead.

Meanwhile, behind them, a scientist in a white coat raised his hand to his forehead, just like Julia had. He pulled what appeared to be a zip, as a narrow line of white light appeared across his scalp. He pulled open the top of head, to reveal another green alien, but this one was baby-faced, which the humans could tell by the fact that it pulled its long neck out from where the face had been, to reveal it. Slowly, it pulled the body down over its own, to reveal a dark green figure, with large claws on its hands, and handles on its forearms. "My name is Han Gor Jar Comeen," it said. It was male. "Back home on Raxacoricofallapatorius, we are prepared for accidents taking place in the Clombite tournaments. We have the technology to separate the two entities here if need be, and give the human a body, just like her own."

"Great!" exclaimed Doctor Johnson, "Let's get to it!"

"Yes, let's," replied Comeen, "And then, we can prevent the scandal that might emerge over the missing Clombite."

This revelation brought joy into the hearts of all in the room, apart from Abintu. He liked Earth. He had been planning his escape, and was fairly confident that, at the right time, he could pull it off. He could get a new human identity to change into, and then carry on the way he had been. But they wanted him to die, because he didn't fit very well into their ways, just because he had to absorb people. This wasn't his fault. He was born like that. He needed a way out.


	6. The Great Panic

More panic resumed in the Supreme Presidential office. Whilst, Koloreen realised, the capture of the Clombite was going well, the retrieval of the Sycorax ship was not so. She had received a warning about the Sycorax ship, threatening war if the ship was not recovered. A bit over the top, she thought, but that is the Sycorax way. Maybe next time, a ship from a less violent race could crash on Raxacoricofallapatorius. That would be one less thing that could go wrong. She sent a message to the four militaries – Raxa in the North East, Corico in the North West, Falla in the South West, and Patorius in the South East, to stand by in case of a global attack. And she summoned the four Presidents of the Sovereign Continents to discuss a solution to the issue.

Later on, they met at the high table, reserved specifically for meetings between the five presidents. "War rages," she announced to the four Sovereign Presidents, as if they didn't already know, "What are we going to do?" she quizzed them.

"Well," began President Fouleen of Falla, "There needs to be a way of getting this ship out of here."

"Excellently stated," raged President Duneen of Corico, "Just remember, Fouleen that it's your state that has got us into this mess in the first place!"

"Well, excuse me for parking my continent in the wrong place!" replied Fouleen, angrily. This comment was met with sniggers from the other three presidents. "Let's not forget that if this thing causes any contamination, it's going to be my people who are wiped out first!" The mood around the table turned much less light-hearted with this comment, for they all knew that this package could cause disasters other than war.

"Gentlemen, please!" exclaimed Koloreen, "We need to work together on this!" She had a high-pitched voice, but she was very good at using it to control the four male Sovereign presidents.

"Ok, we need to think outside of the box on this one," suggested President Poleen of Raxa.

"I'm glad we're able to have such a highly intellectual debate on this," said Duneen, sarcastically.

"Duneen!" yelled Koloreen, "If you want to improve the intellectual nature of this discussion, you can get up and leave!"

Duneen looked at Koloreen, slightly timidly, and sat in his chair, focusing on the other three Presidents.

"What other major issues are taking place at the minute, President Koloreen?" enquired President Eateen of Patorius. From most people, this would have been a pretty stupid question to ask, but Eateen was renowned for his ability to join the dots, and make connections between things which nobody else would have noticed. This is what had allowed him to be President for twelve years running now, putting him well on his way to being the longest-running democratic president in the recent history of the planet. Unlike Duneen, who had been President of the Dictatorship of Corico for eighteen years now – a system which was frowned upon immensely by the other presidents. Coricon society was very backward compared with the other continents, but they had very little contact with the outside world, making it difficult for them to see this.

"Well, there's the retrieval of the Clombite going on from the planet Earth, to avoid any scandal breaking out at this year's Clom tournament," replied Koloreen.

"Do the humans find vinegar to be lethal?"

"No, I suppose not."

"Well, maybe as a return favour for getting a hideous monster away from their planet, maybe they would be willing to do this task for us?"

Koloreen did not like the sound of this. Earth had had very little intergalactic contact, so to move humans across from their own world seemed like a dangerous idea. "I'm not sure if that's appropriate for that planet," she replied.

"They've just seen a big green monster from outer space, Koloreen," said Eateen, "What harm is transporting them to the commanding planet to its homeworld going to do now?"

Koloreen thought very hard about this. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they've already had this kind of contact. And there's a global organisation set up there to deal with this exact kind of thing. "Hmmm," she pondered, "Let me think about this."


	7. The Extraction

A body lay, spread out across a table. It looked exactly like Jane had looked before she had been absorbed. Jane had watched it be created, from when they extracted her DNA from the Clombite she was attached to, until the point where they turned on a machine, which duplicated the cells, and pumped them onto a large tray, until they took the shape of her body. Somebody had even taken the courtesy of clothing it for her. And now, it was going to be hers.

"Right," said Comeen, "To extract Jane into the body, we will need to dissolve the Clombite." He held out a tray. "The Clombite will need to stand on this tray, and then we need to pull this lever. The Clombite will Fall into the bag inside that hole in the ground there, through the tray."

"Will Jane go down with it?" asked Julia, anxiously.

"Yes, she will. But she will wake up in this body no problem."

Julia's face lit up, with a massive grin spread across it. She had been positive ever since Comeen had revealed himself, but now she was really looking forward to getting her daughter back in physical form.

"We'll need to release the Clombite from the cell, and onto the tray," said Comeen.

Doctor Johnson obligingly did this, with a couple of soldiers encouraging the Clombite onto the tray. However, the next part did not go to plan. Abintu grabbed Doctor Johnson's arm, and the process began, just as it had with Jane at her mother's house. A soldier pointed his gun at the beast.

"Wait, don't shoot! My daughter is attached to him!" shouted Julia. By then, Johnson had disappeared into Abintu, who had become plump in size, rather than the size of an ordinary human. He turned around, and pushed as though he was pooing. Some gas escaped from his behind. Then, a face appeared on his right bum cheek, which turned into the face of Doctor Johnson.

"Where am I?" he groaned.

"Right bum cheek," replied a scientist.

"Oh, pleasant."

Everybody stared in shock at what had just happened. Except for Comeen, who had noticed that Abintu was still stood on the tray. He pulled the lever. Abintu fell through the tray, taking Jane and Doctor Johnson with him.

"I'm sorry for your loss," apologised Comeen, "but at least Jane will join this body in a second."

The body on the desk choked into life. Jane picked herself up, slightly weird from not being used to having a body, but instead solely being a face on a monster. She could move around how she liked, and she had a feeling across her body. She had an unusual stomach pain, but apart from that, she was feeling amazing. She looked around at everybody, but there was a solemn look about the place. She had seen Doctor Johnson being taken. "What happened to Doctor Johnson?" she asked.

"He went with the Clombite," a scientist replied, "He's dead now."

Jane's look of delight turned into a look of sorrow. It wasn't fair that he had to go, but at least the Earth was safe again, and she had come away without issue. Comeen received a message on her phone.

"The Supreme President of Raxacoricofallapatorius has called," he said "She is requesting the help of the humans, in return for our role in defeating the Clombite."

"Certainly," replied Jane. She felt in control of what was taking place now, as though she had to take over from Doctor Johnson. "Let them know that there is business to be cleared up, and we'll be able to leave in a few days."


	8. Tummy Troubles

When Jane got home, she felt alive. She performed a vast multitude of actions that had not been possible when she was just a face, but her stomach was playing up still. She didn't feel hungry that night, so she didn't eat. She was scared to see a doctor about it, because it was of an alien nature. She'll let UNIT know tomorrow morning if it's still causing problems, she thought. She went to bed and slept for the first time for a while.

The next morning, she woke to find a strange growth on her stomach, which had not been there before. She felt it, and it seemed hard. She had to let UNIT and Comeen check it out when she got there, she thought. After she got dressed, she felt a strange lurch coming from the growth. She felt it again. It seemed to be moving and groaning, as though it was alive. She stood in front of a mirror, and lifted up her top. The sight was not pretty. She could see the emergence of a few details of a face appearing. Faint eyes, a couple of nostrils, and some lips. This was stressful for her. She pushed with her stomach. The details became clearer than they had been, gradually. She kept pushing, hard and painfully at some points, until a full face appeared on her stomach, like she had been attached to the Clombite. She screamed at the sight. The face screamed too. It was as though it had a mind of its own. Then, she recognised the face. It was the face of Doctor Johnson.

"Doctor Johnson…," she trembled, "what are you doing on my stomach?"

"Your stomach…," he replied, "I'm on your stomach…"

Both looked at the mirror, aghast over what had happened.

"You must have picked me up through your new body," guessed Johnson.

"I guess so," replied Jane, "Is there a solution that you can think of, Doctor Johnson?"

"The only solution that I can think of is that you start calling me Mark. It seems we're going to have to have a more personal relationship, like it or not."

Jane had realised this. Whilst she thought that 'Mark' came across as a lovely person, who she wanted alive, she did not want it to happen like this. She wanted her body to herself, and not have somebody else living on it. In a strange way, she wanted Mark dead.

Mark wasn't too happy about the arrangement either. He was quite sensitive, and he didn't want to be connected to a woman at _every_ moment in her life. And what kind of life did he have? He couldn't do much from where he was. He would have to hide himself at every opportunity, and also have no control over what took place in his life. There needed to be a way out for both of them.


	9. Sycorax

Sycorax was a dark and mysterious world, and the home planet of the race named after it, the Sycorax. It looked like it had never been inhabited, and did not teem with life, but instead, iron rich rocky cliffs and other land formations, rusted as red as the cloaks that the Sycorax wore. The Sycorax lived off this rock, in the same way as the Raxans-Coricons-Fallans-Patorians often liked calcium directly from the geology of their homeworld. Building was banned on the planet, with all buildings being inside caves instead, the deepest of which reached 2000m underground.

Even the hardened Duneen felt overwhelmed by the discovery. He and Eateen had travelled there to talk peace with the Sycorax, in the hope that they would call off their attack on the planet. Eateen, however, was curious about the Sycorax way of life. It did not faze him that it was different. He embraced the difference in lifestyles.

The duo entered the Sycorax parliament cavern, where the supreme leader of the Sycorax greeted them by threatening to kill them and spitting in Duneen's eye.

"I promise you," Eateen explained, "We do not want any trouble with your people. Our species is unable to remove the ship because of our species' natural properties. But we have a party on their way which will arrive in a couple of days, and your people will be rescued. So war will not be necessary."

The Sycorax leader stared at Eateen strangely, and then laughed. He spoke to his people in Sycoraxic, spurring them on for a fight. They all celebrated the appeal to go into battle, for it was what they lived for – to conquer new lands and turn them into a rocky dust.

"You are messing with the Sycorax," he explained to Eateen and Duneen, "You will pay."

"Wait!" exclaimed Duneen, "I have been commanded by a greater authority to let this war happen. But I am President of a quarter of our people. And we shall be loyal to you."

"What are you doing?" asked Eateen.

"Wait and see". A look of concern came over Eateen's face.

"Prove it," requested the Sycorax leader.

"Ok," replied Duneen. He pulled out an immense hand of claws, and, without warning, stabbed Eateen straight through the chest. Eateen winced in pain, with Duneen's claws going straight into him. Duneen removed his hand, and Eateen fell to the floor, dead. The Sycorax cheered the betrayal.

"I shall report to the Supreme President that we are not at war with you," he promised, "My territory is in the North West. Attack the other three, but leave us in peace, and we will not bother you. In fact, we will fight with you. We share your ideals, and would like to defeat the evil of the rest of Raxacoricofallapatorius!" He spoke with ideals that had been learnt by him as a child, taught this by the then government of Corico, who made everyone believe that they and they alone were the only righteous people.

The Sycorax roared at this thought. They had been spurred on by Duneen, who left a hero, to return to his ship to tell the Supreme President of the good news of no war, and the bad news that Eateen had tragically fallen to his death off a cliff on Sycorax.


	10. The Departure

Several scientists at UNIT inspected Jane's additional face, but had no clue over what could have caused it. Comeen looked pitiful over what had happened, and said that it was not a normal thing, although might have been caused by the use of human DNA, rather than Clombite DNA.

"Will he still be there forever?" asked Jane.

"Until the day you die," replied Comeen.

"How long do we have left, then?" asked Mark trying to speak through Jane's top, "Has the change had an effect on lifespan?"

"Yes, it has," answered Comeen, "You will no longer age as a result of this process. You'll both just keep going on forever, together."

"I guess we'll get used to it after a while," said Jane, optimistically, "but it will be weird at first. And I don't know what I'm supposed to do with my life now."

At this moment, a loud noise was heard above. "That'll be the ship coming to take a team to Raxacoricofallapatorius," explained Comeen.

"Let us come with you," requested Jane, "It's hard to get along on the Earth with another face on my stomach. I could be of use here."

"Are you coming back?" asked Julia, anxious about the prospect of losing her daughter to an alien world.

"I might do," she replied, "it depends on how things work out over there."

"You don't have to. I don't want to lose you… again."

"I can still come back and visit. They have spaceships on Raxacoricofallapatorius. And excellent communication facilities. But they need me now, and I can't let them down."

The group set to go headed to the roof to meet the spaceship. "Goodbye, mum" Jane said, hugging her. Mark let out a wince as he was squashed against Julia.

"Be careful," replied Julia, as Jane turned and left.


	11. War Rages

Koloreen stared off her balcony, located on an island central to the four continents, out to the sea. She knew that all would work out well – the military was standing down, and a team was coming to retrieve the crashed ship that was causing the trouble, with the Sycorax crew surviving as Sycorax knew how to do. It was a pity about Eateen's death, but she knew that accidents happen, and the only way around them was to get past him, even though she knew that, as a President, he would be hard for the Patorians to replace.

The ship had an excited atmosphere about it. Jane wore a top which meant that her stomach was exposed, allowing Mark to see and breathe and communicate. The shock of having a face on her stomach was starting to wear off Jane, and she was starting to get used to it. Mark was also getting used to his new host, knowing that being connected to her was the only way for him, and started to feel comfortable about it.

They arrived in Falla, at the site of the crash, where the humans retrieved the ship, with Jane and Mark rescuing the Sycorax from the cockpit. One had died of starvation, but the others were still fine, partly because they had started to eat their dead crewmate. They were grateful for the recovery, and headed happily on their way. Koloreen and Fouleen greeted the humans in person, and thanked them for their work, offering them a tour of the area before they left. They arrived at Falla Falls, a waterfall 300m high, when, all of a sudden, a gigantic ship appeared in the sky. It looked like it had been drilled out of rock, rather than designed, and the humans instantly recognised it as identical to the one that flew over London on Christmas Day 2005. Alongside it, another spaceship appeared which was more recognisable to the Fallans as the Coricon mothership. It parked alongside the group by the falls, and from it emerged President Duneen, followed by a party of a dozen or so Coricons.

"President Koloreen. President Fouleen. The Coricon victory is on its way," he said, triumphantly

"What are you on about, Duneen?" asked Fouleen.

"I mean, it is time we wiped the scum off Raxacoricofallapatorius. There is a Sycorax ship over the top of Raxa, Falla and Patorius, alongside a Coricon ship, with other ships dotted around the place. All ready to fire. And your military isn't ready for any of them." He started talking into his phone. "Corico 2 and Corico 3! Begin the attack!" He put his phone down, and communicated with the party on the ground. "Goodbye good people. We're going to kill you. Guys – kill them! And, oh, by the way, I killed Eateen on Sycorax!"

At this moment, the twelve soldiers from UNIT opened fire on the Coricons; killing them all before they could get their claws to them. The ship escalated, and started firing at a nearby town.

There was a moment of silence, which was interrupted by Jane. "President Koloreen," she said, "Any chance we could get to Corico?"


	12. The Struggle

The twelve UNIT soldiers, along with President Koloreen and a small party of Fallan soldiers travelled in an unsuspecting ship to Corico City. The city was left unguarded, for a change, as the Coricon army made their attack on the other three continents. All that was left was the sense of poverty that took place in Corico, due to the neglect from their government, and focus on their military, which went beyond anybody else.

It was a different story once the ship had landed, however, as some guards were left inside the presidential building. However, they were armed only with their claws, meaning that Jane, Mark and the twelve UNIT soldiers were able to get through fairly easily, although there were casualties. Nine of the soldiers were caught and killed by Coricons, but they were then made light work of by those who made it through, until the group reached their target destination – the outpost for the propaganda network. This had access to speakers all over Corico, as well as in all of the Coricon ships. Jane turned to the UNIT soldiers. "Does anybody know how to hack this network?" she asked. There were blank stares all round.

"I do," came a reply from Jane's stomach.

"Good news," said Jane, "but how are we supposed to go about doing this?"

"If I concentrate really hard, I might be able to do the hacking through your arms." Mark closed his eyes, and tried to imagine himself using Jane's arms. The arms started to move. Jane's fingers moved about in turn, and then made contact with the keyboard – although laid out differently, it had the same basic concept of a keyboard on Earth.

After half an hour of tricky, co-ordinated work, the console became available. Supreme President Koloreen took her Supreme Presidential Duty, and took the mic. She gave a message – "Coricons. Your President has been assassinated. You are now under command from your new President, Jane Smith." She gave Jane the mic. Jane gave her a look of awe over the position she had just been assigned.

"Coricons, this is your President speaking," she said. "We have made new ties with the people of Raxa, Falla and Patorius. You have new orders – stop fighting those people and start attacking the Sycorax!"

Across the world, Coricon ships started to shoot down the Sycorax ships. As the Sycorax had intended to sit back and let the massive Coricon army do all the work, their unarmed ships did not stand a chance against the joint force of Corico alongside Raxa, Falla and Patorius. Together, they gunned down two Sycorax ships, and sent the third one away back to the Sycorax homeworld, with a warning against any further attacks. Afterwards, Koloreen took Jane outside and onto a hilltop, to look upon her new state.

"Here is Corico. It is yours now," she told her.

"Really?" Jane asked, "Why me?"

"Because you knew how to save our homeworld. If you can save Raxacoricofallapatorius, you can save just Corico from all of the poverty and corruption that is taking place there. I have always been ashamed to be Supreme President over this continent. Now, that might change."

Afterwards, Koloreen, Jane and Mark came down to Corico City, amongst all of the people and the military. "Your President," she said, lifting Jane's arm up into the air. The sense of corruption and poverty was rife, but Koloreen knew that Jane could sort it, and so Jane was assured of this too. And if she had any trouble, she could always ask her stomach.


	13. The Power of the President

With Jane in power, Corico became a better place. The military was cut down, in order to help to poor, who became more able to get their own jobs, and travel if they wanted to, and live lives free of corruption. Issues remained that would last, but Jane knew that there was never going to be a perfect world, and always tried to keep pushing for a better Corico, which won the approval of her people.

She returned to Earth to visit her mother every year at Christmas, until the day she died, and attended her funeral. She and Mark became very well acquainted, and they eventually became the first non-Raxans-Coricons-Fallans-Patorians to get married, under one of their native laws. Being unable to age, the two of them saw generation after generation come and go, but they remained good leaders of Corico, and well respected among the whole of Raxacoricofallapatorius.


	14. 2851

On Earth, the year was 2851. Jane and Mark had been in Corico for 837 years now, which had become easier as they became immersed in the local culture. A human colony had existed on Clom for nearly 400 years, and they revelled in watching the Clombites fighting in their annual tournament. Jane and Mark visited this colony often, as it was the closest they had to human contact.

However, for 837 Earth years, there were still rebel gangs in Corico, who still believed in the old ways under President Duneen, and those before him. Whilst these diminished under Jane's rule, they were always present, and occasionally made themselves known. One day, while Jane and Mark were visiting Clom during a tournament, some members of one of these gangs found them, and threw them into the ring whilst one of the competitors hadn't yet arrived. The fight went ahead how it was, and Jane had no idea what to do. The other Clombite went straight for her stomach, taking out Mark. He had become the mild outline of a face on Jane's stomach, just as she had seen on Abintu's leg all that time ago. Then, the Clombite took another striking blow to Jane's side, and the battle was won. Jane closed her eyes. She knew what was coming next. She had lived a long and great life with Mark, but now it must come to an end. As the Clombite grabbed her, she felt herself moving into his body, before she appeared as a face on his side.

Corico elected their first democratic President, who carried on the good work that Jane had done, but for her, it was the side of a Clombite. She survived four tournaments on him, and on the fifth, she was the last face standing. The opposing Clombite took a striking blow to Jane's face, and she, too, turned into a distant outline, which did not last long, as her Clombite lost the battle. But she was never forgotten by the people of Raxacoricofallapatorius, where she remained an immortal hero.


End file.
